


Do No Harm

by lantia4ever



Series: Of Overqualified Hands & Pi Figures (IronStrange) [5]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, Aunt May - mentioned, Banter, Caring Stephen, Cloak is like a puppy, Cloak of Levitation (Marvel), Comfort, Fluff, Height Difference that we deserve, Holding Hands, Kinda, M/M, Mentions of PTSD, Mentions of Panic Attacks, Ned Leeds - mentioned, Peter LOVES magic, Road Trips, Stephen hates cars, Team Bonding, Tony and Stephen bonding time, Tony hates magic, Trust Issues, Vision and Rhodey are good bros, caring Tony, hints of Supremefamily, just soft bois being soft for once
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-04
Updated: 2018-07-04
Packaged: 2019-06-05 04:47:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,140
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15162989
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lantia4ever/pseuds/lantia4ever
Summary: It's the last week of summer and Peter decides to drag the Avengers out of their hideouts to go have some fun together. He might have to resort to kidnapping one particular wizard doctor, who is not only too busy for team bonding - with a team he's not even really a part of - but more importantly, not very fond of car travelling.Stephen learns that he's not the only one having issues with particular means of transportation.





	Do No Harm

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone! ^^ 
> 
> Time to continue the journey! I have some plans before getting to Infinity War and beyond it - and I'm going to start with this little Avenger summer outing :3 Hope you'll enjoy! <3 And as always, reading the previous parts is somewhat necessary ;D
> 
> I have to admit I am not a big fan of the summer months...it's too hot, computers are melting, my brain is melting...and while I love writing, I just don't get to write much at that sort of state :D So the updates will likely take time :/ But here's to hoping they'll be worth the wait ^^

In the wake of the superhero Civil War, Stephen finds his days unusually busy. Not that he wouldn't be busy as the Sorcerer Supreme. Normally, the busy days would consist of him and Wong doing sorcerer work. Now, he's suddenly in the middle of both sorcerer and Avengers business.

He spends almost as much time in the Compound as he spends in the Sanctum and both places are basically overrun by both sorcerers and Avengers alike.

Peter somehow decided the Sanctum is a great place to come after school to study - while inconspicuously investigating all things magical. Vision materializes out of walls every now and then, keen on reading some of the texts about the Infinity stones and even Rhodes stops by sometimes on his way to the rehab center.

And Stephen always finds an excuse to drop by the Compound, if only to keep Tony company. Especially after the rogues broke out of the prison, Stephen and Wong both made up the most ridiculous reasons and then some to stay in the Compound should any of them be foolish enough to try and sneak in there.

"I know where they are," Tony told him at one point. "T'Challa gave them asylum in Wakanda. For now."

Stephen offered to invade the kingdom and drop them all back to the Raft and was only half joking. Tony laughed it off of course but Stephen was seconds away from opening a portal in there and finding every single last one of them.

Apparently a friend of Tony's there can help with Barnes's haywire brain so the engineer's in no hurry to go after the rogues, no matter how that Ross guy would want him to.

Hell, Stephen will volunteer if it ever comes down to it. As it is, he's letting the rogues fly under the radar instead...for now, as Tony said. Something's going to have to be done about them eventually. The pawns, the Witch and in particular - the Captain.

He thought he sucked at apologies - turns out Rogers is beyond hopeless when it comes to those. If that's what the letter was supposed to be anyway. No wonder Tony's the way he is, if this is how people apologize for almost killing him – by not really apologizing at all.

Rogers is pretty damn good at making an apology sound like an excuse and an accusation combined. What a jerk. Tony keeps the phone but doesn't call the man - thank God. There's only so much bullshit one should deal with in a lifetime and Tony is already going over capacity.

So the rogues are put to the sidelines and Tony focuses on what's left of the actual team instead.

He spends his days in the lab working on the braces for Rhodey, giving Stephen a first row seat to the genius engineering part of him. Sometimes they just stay in the lab in silence, with him doing some magical homework while Tony tinkers. Sometimes Peter barges in with a million questions about something and they don't get any work done.

Sometimes they talk, about everything and nothing...on a particularly bad day Stephen tells him about the accident, Tony tells him about Afghanistan and they throw the work behind their backs, open a good bottle of whiskey and drink through the night, just enough to dull the pain.

And just like that, Stephen's accursed life of solitude is turned completely upside down as he's suddenly surrounded by all kinds of people. The curious Vision, hyperactive Peter, scheming Wong, steady and loyal Rhodey, FRIDAY, the bots, the Cloak…and Tony.

Tony most of all.

One early morning, the doors to the Sanctum fly open and Tony walks in as confident as ever, a darkened look on his face. "We have a situation, I repeat, we have a situation!" he jumps up the stairs two at a time, stopping by Stephen sitting on the windowsill, reading.

"What is it?" he clasps the book close and stands. "Aliens? Warmongering Earthly villains? Cats becoming sentient embodiments of evil and wanting to take over the world?"

"It's Peter," Tony answers, frowning at him. " _Cats_? What the actual fuck, Stephen?"

"Never mind. What did the kid got himself into now?"

"He decided to kidnap not one, but two rather dangerous individuals as part of his summer plan," Tony sighs, shoving his hands into his fancy-pants' pockets. 

"Ugh. Of course he did. Who is it? Gangsters? Drug dealers? HYDRA?"

"A wealthy businessman slash genius philanthropist and a monk-lookin'ass wizard doctor."

Stephen scoffs, pausing. "Wait...you mean...that's - "

"Us, yeah. It's his last week before summer break's over so he's threatening to kidnap us unless we voluntarily go hang out with him somewhere."

"I thought he was with that friend of his...Ted?"

"Ned."

"Yes, him...what was it? Some science camp down in Fairfield?"

"Yeah, that thing ended like last week. Then he went with May to visit his extended family in Jersey and now it's apparently Avengers team-bonding time."

"I'm not officially part of the team."

"He doesn't care."

" _He_ is not officially part of the team."

"He cares even less about that," Tony shrugs, leaning against the cobweb-covered wall.

"No. I think he cares a whole lot about that," he points out, sitting back down.

"He's not even legal to drink yet! What's the point of becoming an Avenger if you can't even celebrate by getting piss drunk later? Oh wait...that might just be me. Whatever, he's still just a kid. That being said, it's not going to stop him from dragging us along on this trip. Even if he has to wrap us up in webbing and carry our asses in there."

"I'm the Sorcerer Supreme. I'd like to see him try."

 

 

Needless to say, ten minutes later he is cocooned in webs and hauled out of the Sanctum by the excited teen while Wong is waving at them with a shit-eating grin.

"I warned you," Tony raises both hands in defense, when Peter finally sets him free in the limo.

"Priceless," Happy mumbles in between chuckles from the driver's seat.

Vision and Rhodey are sitting opposite of them, the latter showing the intrigued android something on his tablet.

“Hey, doc,” Rhodey gives him a little wave, eyes never leaving the screen.

“Doctor,” Vision nods, also not looking up at him.

“Oh _great_! _Everyone’s_ here!” Stephen squints at them, stifling the momentary disappointment. He might have been…slightly less annoyed if it was just him, Tony and Peter.

Slightly.

It’s been a while – since he last sat in a car. The portals are definitely a perk to the whole sorcerer deal. But he’s not driving – not that he ever, EVER would again – and there are four very relaxed looking passengers surrounding him so the anxiousness isn’t as bad…so far.

“So! Where are we going?” Peter glances at everyone, bouncing on the seat between him and Tony.

“Hold on now, this was _your_ idea. You drag us in on it and you don’t even know where we’re going?” Tony narrows his eyes at the teen.

“Thought we’d all decide,” Peter shrugs, smile faltering when nobody suggests anything.

Tony spots the expression and huffs. “Alright, kid. You ever been to the west coast?” Peter shakes his head, enthusiasm returning to his features. “Malibu it is then.”

“Awesome! You grew up in there, right?”

“Sure did. We can take a little city tour and then just crash on that piece of beach I think I still own.”

“I’ll call the airport to have them fire up the jet,” Happy informs them and drives off in the direction of the JFK.

The traffic is pretty bad this time of the day so the car is moving at a snail’s pace at best…but it’s still a car and it’s still moving which is enough for Stephen’s anxiety to go from ten to one thousand in a second.

Stephen shifts in his seat uncomfortably, clearing his throat. “Uhm, sorcerer here,” he raises his hand, pointing at himself. “I can portal us in there.”

“You said magic shouldn’t be used like that,” Peter remembers. “You know…for personal gain and all.”

“I believe the exact words were ‘not going to become anyone’s private teleportation service’,” Happy glares at him through the review mirror.

“True, but I believe in protecting the Earth’s environment and a portal as opposed to a jet is definitely eco-friendly.”

“This isn’t an emergency,” Tony blurts out, eyes pinned on the passing streets outside of the window.

“It’s an environmental emergency.”

“My jet uses clean energy,” he argues, glancing at him with a daring eyebrow.

“Portals are faster,” Stephen shoots back, noting the quick wince coming from Tony.

The pause that follows is tiny. If Stephen wasn’t paying attention he’d miss it completely – along with the series of emotions passing over the man’s eyes.

Horror being the most prominent one.

Which is where Tony does what he does best – acts. “Fine. The sooner we get there the sooner we can all sip margaritas while getting some much needed tan. Except for you, no margaritas for you,” he squints at Peter, an awkward grin plastered across his face, eyes avoiding Stephen’s questioning look.

“Yisss! Magic time!” Peter cheers, already googling on his phone. “Here! Let’s start with the Getty Villa! It’s a museum full of old European stuff! Sounds cool, right?” he hands the phone over to Stephen, showing him the photo of the destination.

“Museum, sure,” Tony hums, returning his gaze back to the window, hands clenching into fists over the expensive trousers.

Stephen opens up his mouth to pry about the sudden one-eighty mood but decides against it. For now. “Getty Villa here we come. Pull over, Happy, please.”

“Whatever you say mister Teleportation Service Man,” he quips, but steers into an empty space on the street they’re driving through.

Stephen just rolls his eyes and portals the car and its occupants to an empty parking lot space by the museum.

“Cool! Let’s go!” Peter commands, bolting out of the car right over the very still, pale looking Tony.

“The hell are you two doing?!” Tony focuses on his best friend and the android sitting opposite of them, their attention never leaving the tablet.

“Rhodey is showing me cat videos,” Vision smiles, glancing up at them. “Fascinating,” he frowns at the screen in curiosity.

“ _Cats_. You’re watching ca – what the fuck is wrong with y’all today?!” Tony makes a double-take at them and scrambles out of the car.

 

 

They spend about an hour in the Villa, Peter dragging the still overly curious Vision around, inspecting the exhibits. Stephen receives some weird looks that honestly aren’t anything new for him anymore, but with Tony Stark in the group there’s only so much attention anyone would pay a weirdly dressed guy with a moving Cloak on his shoulders.

After a round of autographs and selfies with the engineer, Happy starts sending the crowds a particularly mean look that actually deters most of them from even trying to approach them.

Stephen hangs back with Rhodey and ends up magically depleting his tablet’s battery after the third cat video he insists on showing him.

“Aww maaaan! I thought it was full this morning,” the Colonel shrugs and thinks nothing of it, wobbling between the exhibits while also getting some questionably wanted attention from the other visitors.

Unlike Tony, who is yet to lose his press-worthy façade ever since leaving the car – the one he successfully uses as his social shield outside of the armor, Rhodey deals with the attention the same way he deals with everything and everyone else.

Genuinely.

A group of awe-stricken kids approach him, polite and excited – so he treats them that way, politely and just as excited to take photos with them. A young couple comes up to him asking for a signature for their younger siblings that apparently love Warmashine – he gives them ten and a smile to top it off with. A bunch of rude and annoying guys demanding a group photo? He tells them to fuck off and learn some manners first.

Stephen likes the man. Rhodes and him share the same trait – the ability to see through bullshit. And as the Colonel has told him over tea one morning, that’s the must-have ability for someone attempting friendship with one Tony Stark.

He can see why.

Tony isn’t just a closed book – he’s a closed book with a double padlock, hidden in a locked and barricaded vault guarded by dragons. And when it looks like he might be inviting you to peek inside, you never know if he’s showing you the real thing or just one of the myriad of fake constructs he has built. And that’s where this ability comes in handy as he’s already figured out when Tony told him about the civil war and Siberia.

Their half-drunken talk about how Tony’s become Iron Man and how Stephen went from a neurosurgeon to a sorcerer was different though. There were no truths hidden between the lines, no omitted facts, no evasions or more secrets – Tony allowed himself to be completely honest with him, completely vulnerable. So Stephen did the same and spoke about that night and what followed it in details he never told anyone.

It’s the first time he’s talked about it at all. Wong knows some of it and Christine had been there so she knows the beginning at least. But Tony is the first to get the full story.

They didn’t talk about it since – not that there’s much more to say. Although he probably should have mentioned his dislike of car travel. Or anything moving on wheels in fact.

After going through the museum, Stephen portals them to an allegedly best American bistro in town for lunch and then to a park to walk it off. By the time he portals them to the beach, Tony’s complexion is almost as white as the sand around there. He takes one breath, two and at fifth he’s all smiles and jokes again.  

He would have commented on it this time, but the engineer’s attention is fully occupied by Peter and his never ending stream of questions.

While Peter runs to investigate what’s left of the former Stark mansion on top of the hill with Tony and Happy, him, Rhodes and Vision find shade and create a makeshift chillout spot with Vision’s cape, sitting down and enjoying the ocean breeze.

He shrugs the Cloak off and lies down, watching the cloudless sky absentmindedly, wondering what’s going on with Tony today. Or his two friends for that matter, since they’re back to watching cat videos on Peter’s phone this time.

Happy looms over him some time later, holding a fancy take-out basket and dressed in nothing but a pair of swimming trunks. “Drinks anyone? Make yourself whatever you want,” he offers, leaving the basket on the ground. “I’m going for a swim,” he stretches and runs towards the waves.

“Can I swim?” Vision asks, looking at someone behind and out of sight of Stephen.

“I don’t think so, sorry,” comes Tony’s reply. He appears next to the basket in a Hawaiian shirt and shorts, his colorful shades hiding his eyes. “I’m sure you could learn, but the problem is,” he pauses, gesturing wildly at Vision.

“My constitution,” Vision finishes for him, a knowing smile gracing his face. “I understand.”

“You ain’t waterproof?” Rhodes asks, earning a chuckle from his best friend.

“He’s heavy.”

“So was the Titanic,” Stephen butts in, squinting up at Tony, who gives him a quizzical look. “Okay, bad example.”

“Vision isn’t a ship. But…I suppose you could just float in the water? It’s not exactly swimming - ”

“What a wonderful idea,” Vision interrupts him thoughtfully, already walking off to join Happy.

“AWESOME!” Peter shouts from somewhere ahead, so Stephen props himself up on his elbows and finds the teenager is already in the water, sitting on a surfboard and cheering for Vision.

The Cloak is actually there with them, plunging in an out of the water like a dolphin. “Weirdo,” he scoffs and sits up, inspecting the basket full of drinks and snacks.

“Mojito, boys?” Tony asks them, already pouring rum into the shaker, sunglasses pulled up and resting in his tousled hair.

“Hells yeah. Better be with an umbrella.”

“Sure, Platypus. Anything for you. Stephen?”

He nods and watches Tony’s ever skillful hands prepare the drinks. He pours them a glass – adding a pink umbrella to Rhodey’s – and sits next to them.

“We set up a tent over there, brought some clothes and stuff. So you can go change out of all these fancy clothes,” Tony informs them, looking pointedly at him.

“No thanks.”

“Oh come on, doc,” Rhodes nudges him with an elbow. “You’re off duty, no need to dress…so official,” he says after a pause.

“And by official he means you don’t always have to wear this medieval outfit. Go grab some swimming gear and show Happy over there how swimming looks like,” Tony grins, sipping on his mojito.

“There’s nothing wrong with my outfit. And the ocean’s already overcrowded enough as it is,” he waves at the four enthusiastic ‘swimmers’.

“Aren’t there sharks around here?” Rhodes frowns.

Tony almost spits out the drink, chuckling. “You mean besides the Cloak?” he points to where the Cloak is currently mimicking a shark’s fin in the waves.

“That thing’s still freaking me out,” Rhodey laughs, watching the Cloak with curiosity. “It’s like a puppy…but it’s a Cloak. The hell, man?”

“I wouldn’t know,” Stephen shrugs, willing his unusually shaky hands to still a little bit around the glass. “The texts I managed to find are fairly vague when it comes to explaining the Cloak’s…behavior.”

“He likes having fun. No great mystery there,” Tony mumbles, eyes fixed on the drink he’s clutching onto almost as fiercely as Stephen is.

“I’m gonna go change then. If the Cloak gets to have fun, so will I!” Rhodey announces, gets up and heads to the tent.

Stephen watches him walk away from them out of the corner of his eyes, before settling on Tony. Gathering some much needed courage and asks: “What’s wrong?”

Tony’s eyes snap over to him before they continues to flicker wildly around the beach. “Nothing.”

Did he expect a different answer? Even if everything in the world was wrong, Tony would be the last to admit it to a living soul. He could easily press for more, play the doctor card and get to the bottom of what’s bothering the engineer, but knowing Tony – and more importantly, knowing himself – it would never work.

And instead of uncovering the issue and maybe helping out, Tony would just put a few more walls up and shut him out.

Trust takes time.

And they’ve been doing so well thus far, he would hate to break the progress. But he can’t stand ignorant in the face of blatant suffering either.

He breathes out, frowning at his shaking hands clutching onto the mojito glass.

“What’s wrong with your hands?” Tony blurts out, following his gaze and matching his frown.

Stephen chuckles, high-pitched and humorless. “Nothing?” he echoes Tony’s lie, earning a guilty sigh from him. “It really is nothing though. They shake like this often…since the accident.”

“Oh…you did mention that,” Tony clears his throat, the frown melting into something rather…soft. “Haven’t noticed it before.”

“It gets worse when I’m stressed.”

“You don’t look stressed.”

“I don’t, do I?” he chuckles again, putting the glass into the sand next to him and trying to steady his traitorous limbs. “Can’t fool them apparently.”

Tony inhales, mouth opening but before he says whatever he wanted, he closes it again, uncertainty seeping into his features. “I hate portals,” he sighs, lowering his gaze.

“What?” Stephen reels back, eyebrows shooting up.

“Don’t do well with those since…New York and the whole alien wormhole thing in the sky?” he explains hesitantly, taking a sip of the drink before discarding the glass next to Stephen’s. “Wormholes, portals...same thing. Dark and cold and…and now _magic portals_ are a thing,” he laughs the same self-depreciating way Stephen did just moments ago. “S’like a double dose of…of…not good.”

He stares at the fidgeting engineer and mentally slaps himself. “Oh.”

It explains everything. From the silly argument in the limo to the constipated look every time they changed locations today. So obvious and yet Stephen completely missed it.

“ _I hate your funky magic teleportation thing._ ”

“ _No unauthorized portals in the Compound unless someone’s dying._ ”

He really can’t take a hint, can he?

“Shit. I’m sorry…why didn’t you tell me?”

“What, you wanted me to freak out in front of the kid? No thanks.”

“Right. Because telling me to shove my magical portal up my ass would make you sound like you’re freaking out. As opposed to fighting off panic attacks while I was portaling you around town the whole day! Have I told you what a strange genius you are?!”

Tony looks up, a defiant glint in his darkened eyes. “Yes. Multiple times. Now _you_ stop freaking out about this, _please_ …it’s nothing. It’s stupid is what it is!”

And just like that, Stephen’s worry gives way to anger. “It’s not stupid, you absolute douchebag! And most definitely not nothing!” he all but growls, the tone clearly catching Tony off-guard. “I told you I don’t use magic on people without their consent! Were you not listening to that bit?! Or did you just think I was kidding!”

Tony’s widened gaze flutters away from Stephen’s glare. “No…that’s not…no.”

“And yet, instead of speaking up you just let me go through with it. You _let me_ do this to you! That’s not okay, Tony! That’s not fair!”

“Hm. Didn’t hear _you_ speak up while you were quietly suffering through the car ride back in New York,” Tony deflects, crossing his arms.

Stephen snaps his mouth shut, making a double take at Tony.

“And I wasn’t downplaying the panic – that I’m still kinda on the edge of by the way – when I said it was stupid. It was,” he whispers. “You looked like you were about to jump out of the car so when you suggested magic stargate thingie, I figured it’s the best option. I thought…,” he sighs, rolling his eyes. “I thought I was past this whole…portal thing. That it’d be fine.”

“But it wasn’t fine,” Stephen protests in a quiet, soft tone.

Tony scoffs, shaking his head. “Nope. But at that point I was committed. And the kid loves magic s - ”

“Stop bringing Peter into this for o - ”

“It’s his birthday today,” Tony blurts out, shrugging when Stephen’s eyebrows hit the sky above. “He thinks it’s like some huge super secret and doesn’t want anyone to know…but I’m not just anyone so obviously I know. And May wasn’t very subtle about that cake she was baking a couple days ago when I stopped by to repair the suit either so…yeah. I just…don’t want to ruin the day with my…magic and portal hating bullshit when he’s clearly having fun,” he nods towards the ocean with a fond expression, watching Peter wrestle with the Cloak on the surfboard playfully.

Stephen deflates and can’t help but mirror the expression. It’s no secret that Tony has a soft spot for the kid. Stephen can’t blame him. Peter has this effect on pretty much everyone – him included apparently.

“I’m sorry. I should have just told you…I’m an idiot,” Tony chuckles.

“You and me both.”

“Nah.”

“Yah. We could have totally compromised, you know? You could have taken the car and me and Peter would just continue portaling around. No freak outs, no panic, no…bullshit. Everyone happy. Happy would definitely be happy. He’s afraid I’m stealing his job.”

Tony laughs, sounding actually amused this time. “He thinks you’re cool, don’t let his murder gaze fool you.”

He rumbles out a laugh of his own and sighs. “You okay? I mean…” he trails off, unsure of how to even begin to have this sort of conversation with…anyone. Let alone Tony.

“Yeah. I’m…getting there. Both feet on the ground, drinks, all the kids having fun…no portals in sight…I’m good,” he gives him one of those rare, tiny smiles of his that Stephen will forever deny does something funny to him every time. Tony’s eyes drop, something in his soft eyes changing. “May I?” he reaches out and it takes Stephen a moment to decipher the motive behind the gesture.

He places his trembling left hand in his outstretched one, averting his eyes. If Tony wants to see, then he will let him. It’s only fair that he does. But he doesn’t need to witness the man’s reaction. He’s seen enough of those to know that he doesn’t need to see more.

Nimble fingers slide the glove off and he braces himself for the inevitable. The gasp of horror. The disgusted frown. The pity.

Instead, his hand is maneuvered over into Tony’s left while the fingers of his right gently trace over the web of white scars.

Stephen turns over just enough to watch the curious limbs inspect his marred flesh. Tony’s fingers are rough, hardened by tough daily labor in the workshop. So different from what his own used to be.

His touch is anything but rough though. It’s warm and soft…and it surprises Stephen enough to look up.

Tony’s eyebrows are knitted together in the same way they often are when he’s studying a blueprint or an intricate layout of wires in a new project. His expression betrays nothing but curiosity.

“Does it hurt?” he asks, two hazel orbs locking with his gray ones.

Finding a lump in his throat, he just shakes his head as an answer.

Tony nods, fingers stilling their probing. Instead of letting go, he keeps holding his hand like that in the middle of his own. “Doesn’t shake so badly anymore,” he observes.

Stephen clears his throat, tension leaving his muscles. “Yes, well…you still wouldn’t want me meddling with your brain with them.”

“I don’t know…that sleeping spell worked just fine so you clearly haven’t lost your touch,” he smiles.

He hums a quiet chuckle, eyes traveling back to their joined hands. “For magic, yes. As for fine motor skills, you should see my current signature.”

“I’ve seen your old signature somewhere before…I bet your new one is more readable than that sorry excuse for a scribble. Usually I hate stereotypes but damn, your handwriting sure has that doctor flare about it.”

He snatches his hand away, hiding his smile behind a pout. “I’ll have you know my handwriting was always the most…exquisite.”

“If by exquisite you mean people needed a team of linguists and decoders to read it then I agree.”

“Pfft,” he rolls his eyes and turns to watch the ocean.

“Here,” Tony hands him the yellow glove back and grabs his glass again, sipping on the drink in silence.

Stephen hides the hand within the safe cover of the glove and notes that Tony was right. The awful shaking fueled by his frizzled nerves has calmed down into the usual tiny tremors.

The touch of the strangely rough yet gentle fingers lingers on his skin like a ghost. It’s been so long since someone…anyone touched him like this. Touched his hands like this.

So careful. But with purpose. Soft, but steady and firm.

Almost…almost… _loving_.

He looks at Tony - now grinning and waving at the group of his friends and teammates all having fun in the water – and nearly chokes on his own breath.

“Doctor Wizard!” Peter sprints across the beach, snapping Stephen out of his thoughts. “Look! The Cloak can go in and out of the water and still be dry!”

He…actually didn’t know that. “Of course he can, he’s magic!”

“Magic is _awesome_!” he high-fives the Cloak mid-jump and comes to a halt in front of them. “Can I have one?” he points at Tony’s drink while running his other hand through his dripping wet hair, sitting down.

“Sure,” Tony nods and rummages through the basket again. “Virgin one, of course,” he chuckles when he spots Stephen’s momentary offended expression.

“Of course,” Stephen chuckles and goes back to sipping his own refreshing drink, watching Tony and Peter argue over the taste of mint.

 

 

They hang out on the beach until the sun begins to set. Rhodey makes them sandwiches for dinner from the apparently bottomless basket of goodies and after only a minor persuasion from Peter, Stephen indulges him in a few sparkly magic tricks that quickly escalate into full-blown fireworks.

“This was so much fun!” Peter smiles at the all of them when they pack up and get ready to leave. “We should do it again sometime! You know…hang out!”

“Holidays are over, young man,” Tony sighs. “You’ve got school incoming and we have Earth to protect.”

“Oh I can multitask! And I’m done at school at quarter to three! I can totally go protect the Earth after that!”

“I’m sure you can. Happy will keep you informed, in case Earth needs saving,” Tony rolls his eyes at the teenager, patting his shoulder.

“Awesome! I’ll stop by the Sanctum, too! Wong was showing me a really cool book about martial arts!”

Stephen nods, smiling before the words register. “Wait…he was?” he frowns. “I mean, he can…of course. _I_ can show you a _really cool_ book about - ”

“Magic?! AWESOME!”

He sighs, squinting at the giggling three men and an amused looking android. “Sure, yeah. Magic. Whatever. So, back to Queens?” he circles his hands and opens a portal to Peter’s street.

“Yes! I’ll see you all later! Thank you mister Stark! And you, Doctor Wizard!” he waves at them and jumps through.

“It’s _Strange_ , Doctor _Strange_ , how many times do I…never mind,” he sighs again, seeing Peter is already out of sight anyway.

He opens another portal for Rhodey and Vision to the Compound and as they say their goodbyes, he hears Happy asking: “Are we going too, or do you have some other plans?”

“You go ahead with them. I’m going to go to the Tower and start with the inventory. Which you’ll appreciate I’m sure, since you’ll be in charge of getting all that junk out of there.”

“Alright. I’ll be on call as always. Doctor,” he glares at Stephen as he passes him by and goes through the portal as well, but Stephen catches the tiny smirk and decides maybe Happy doesn’t hate him after all.

“Well…this was fun. Back to work it is. Can you get the car to the Compound as well? I’m not gonna need it.”

“You plan on walking to the airport?” he scoffs, walking to the car with Tony anyway.

“Not going to the airport. Going to the Tower.”

Stephen stops, squinting at him. “You plan on walking to the Tower?”

“I plan on getting a lot of work done before midnight.”

“It already _is_ midnight in New York.”

“Smartass.”

“I’m not portaling you back to New York, douchebag. I thought we were over this discussion.”

“Guess I’m bringing the discussion back,” he shrugs.

“Well I’m not. Call a taxi or something.”

“I could call my armor but…that’s not the point.”

“What is the point then? Other than you trying to do something stupid again.”

Tony stares at him for a lot longer than ever before and for some reason, it scares Stephen. What scares him even more is how the engineer walks right up to him, close enough for Stephen to look down and count every speckle of light in his expressive eyes.

He looks down as well, his hands taking Stephen’s and bringing them up. “You always wear the gloves these days…almost made me forget about your hands. Not like that…not because of the accident or whatever,” he quickly adds.

Stephen frowns, completely and utterly lost. “I wear them beca - ”

“Because you don’t want people looking at them. I know. I understand. You don’t see me posing shirtless for Forbes photo-shoots either.”

“You love wearing fancy suits,” he points out, forcing his mind to stop obsessing over the fact that Tony _knows_ …and _understands_.   

He chuckles, looking up at him. “True. My point is…you’re a doctor.”

“Impeccable observation. You are a genius after all.”

Tony breathes in, ignoring the quip. “These two hands…they’re doctor hands. _Your_ hands. They do no harm,” he shrugs, squeezing them ever so gently.

For more than a moment, he has no idea what to say to that. “You…have never seen me fight. I’ve done plenty of harm in a fight.”

“Because you had to. Not because you wanted to. Or enjoyed doing it.”

“You don’t know that.”

“No. But Wong does. And he’s a huge gossip girl.”

Stephen groans. “I’ll kill him.”

“No you won’t.”

“No. No I won’t. But…I might hide his iPod in the Dark Dimension.”

Tony laughs at that and takes a step back, still keeping a hold of his hands. “Humor me, wizard. One portal to the Tower, please,” he grins.

“Tony,” he begins, but the engineer lets go of one of his hands and raises a finger at him.

“Nope. It’s true. I hate portals. I hate magic. And I absolutely hate magic portals. But you’re not Loki and you’re definitely not Wanda…I figure a portal made by your overqualified hands might just be the one I’ll be okay with. One…I know won’t do any harm. Just something I’ve been contemplating this afternoon.”

Stephen searches his face for anything that would betray…fear or anxiety but there’s nothing of the sort.

Just pure trust.

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah. I am,” he answers, not too quickly.

Stephen nods and lets go of him. “Alright,” he turns to the car and sends it to the Compound’s street – or so he hopes – and opens another portal just outside of the Stark Tower. He’s never been inside…but he’s often admired the building from the street below.

“A-ha! That looks like my stop,” Tony grins at him and then stares through the portal, hesitant. Not afraid, just hesitant.

Before he makes a move, Stephen steps forward and raises his hand. “Let’s go.”

Tony inspects the offering with a raised eyebrow but takes it anyway.

He walks backwards, leading Tony along through the portal. It’s a chilling sensation, one he’s gotten used to long ago but even if portals and magic aren’t your worst nightmare the feeling can be overwhelming.

Once on the other side, back to slightly cold summer night of New York, Stephen walks them few more steps away from the portal than necessary, eyes never leaving Tony’s – and his never leaving Stephen’s.

The engineer breathes in the chilled air and blinks, chest heaving.

“Tony?” he asks, voice low.

“Hm? Hm,” he hums, still looking around and blinking. “That…wasn’t so bad…I mean…it was pretty bad. But…hm,” he stutters, eyes landing on their hands. “I could get used to this,” he adds, glancing back at the portal.

There’s a tiny squeeze against his hand before Tony withdraws and takes a few steps around him towards the Tower.

“Thank you, Doctor Wizard,” he grins and huffs out a breath of relief.

He narrows his eyes at him, the nickname somehow till riling him up. “Anytime, Doctor Stark,” he retorts and collapses the portal, creating a new one to the Sanctum.

Tony scoffs. “Right. Well…off we go, do…doctor things. Goodnight, Stephen. Cloak,” he nods at the animated cloth around Stephen’s shoulders that waves at him in reply. “Be a good…cloak.”

“Goodnight, Tony,” he smiles and backs into the portal, eyes never leaving the engineer.

Sleep is the last thing on his mind that night. Instead, he lies awake and ponders the things that could have been.

Usually, this would entail the night of his accident…what if he stayed at home, what if he never answered the call, what if he wasn’t driving like a reckless punk.

Tonight, he goes further into the past and wonders what would have happened if he didn’t stuff that card into his wallet to forget all about it…if he made that call. If for once in his life he would get past his pride and listen to something other than reason…and his ego.

It’s a futile thought. He can’t go back in time and change the past. Even all the powers of the Eye of Agamotto couldn’t accomplish that.

In the end, everything is in the here and now. And he might be able to do something about that still.

**Author's Note:**

> Next time...it's Homecoming time :3 
> 
> PS: What even _IS_ Benedict Cumberbatch's eye color!?????!?!? I've spent a disturbing amount of time looking up close-up photos of him just to figure that out (for that one damn mention of it in the fic, lol) and I still don't even know.   
>  First, I wrote down green, but then Thor's face popped up in my head and told me "Is it tho???" and now I'm just lost... :D  
> It's like...light blue, but then it gets kinda green-ish at times and other times it's almost metalic silver...someone send help :D I might be going blind af ;D   
> (also, I blame the delay of this update on getting distracted by close-ups of Ben's face, haha)


End file.
